Expert Review★★★★★ Click to read Tap to read
Coffin Varnish is not for the faint of heart. This is a snuff for men, or at least those who present themselves as someone who can handle a pinch.
Out of the pouch or tin it presents with a very unique oak smoke note, as if it has been kissed or charred in a bourbon barrel and left to sit in the hull or cellar of a plantation down South. There are notes of a sweet, lightly kissed bourbon in the background, and if you enjoy bourbon, you know there is a smack of burn, a touch of sweetness, and that barrel it's aged in makes all the difference. The fine grind and dusty nature can be difficult to place in the nose, but when you do, you are greeted with a two-step. First come the sweet notes of smoked bourbon, and "sweet" here is used loosely; to call this a sweet snuff would simply not be true. To anybody who enjoys a glass of bourbon, however, that edge you get on the ride of caramel and other charred oak notes provides all the hint you need to enjoy a drink. This snuff does much the same thing. The smoky, oaky woodiness that fades into the background as the snuff settles in the nose is second to none. This differs from the essential wood oils used in others, instead presenting a dry, almost aged bourbon character, as if smoked and cured in a deeply charred oak cask. The smoky notes blend everything together, almost as if you were presented with a bourbon glass at a high-end bar with a smoke presentation that just permeates the top layer, its notes helping penetrate and give life to the sweet caramel and burn of the bourbon.
Tobacco colour is a lighter mocha brown with plenty of speckling, ground fine, not the finest but damn near close. Moisture is scarce here, with no clumping present, and with its fine grind and method of alkalinisation the snuff promotes a very wonderful release of vitamin N; strength varies from person to person, but I reckon most people will find the wallop here more than sufficient for a pick-me-up at any point. With very little moisture and a particularly fine grind, coupled with a wallop of nicotine, this snuff requires a masterful pinch and inhale to position just right in the nose. I have found myself sneezing easily with this snuff, but boy is it worth any type of struggle. The best snuffs paint a scene, and the scene here is that of a saloon trampled in by dirt, with a lone, rough gentleman sitting there enjoying his tobacco, a stiff drink in his hand, and a silver six-shooter ready to roar.
Although the strength can be a little off-putting and the fineness can coax a few sneezes even from the most proficient users, this one deserves a sit-down in everyone's rotation. The notes of oak, smoke, and bourbon are all wrapped together with a base tobacco that peeks through from time to time. As the nose notes settle, you continue to get little brushes of those sweet oaky notes, the smoke-touched cask, and the wonderful tobacco that holds it all together.